The present invention generally relates to pet products and more specifically relates to an animal traveler assembly for facilitating safe and comfortable travel with pets or other animals in a passenger vehicle.
Dogs in particular seem to truly enjoy travel in an automobile with their owners. However, allowing a dog to roam freely during a ride can be hazardous, for obvious reasons. There have been numerous attempts to provide convenient and safe devices for facilitating transport of pets, for example, dogs. Many of such devices are directed at either containing the animal in a sectioned-off portion of a vehicle or restraining the animal by means of tethers or carrier crates.
Dogs are commonly transported in a passenger vehicle by means of an enclosed carrier crate sized to contain the dog but not large enough to allow great freedom of movement. Such crates are commercially available and are generally not specifically designed for vehicle transport of the pet. For example, while being somewhat effective to temporarily contain a dog during car travel, such crates can shift or even tip during transport, thereby causing fright or injury to the animal inside the crate. In the event of a vehicle accident, the crate may be difficult to access or extract from the vehicle and the animal may become trapped therein.
A divider or partition provides an alternative means of containing or restricting movement of a dog during travel. Commercially available dividers facilitate travel with dogs by restricting the animal's range of movement to a rear passenger compartment or an interior cargo space of a vehicle. Ordoyne et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,753 discloses a portable pet barrier which is positioned in the vehicle in place of seat headrests. The Ordoyne et al. barrier is used to prevent a dog from passing forward of the divider. These devices are useful but do not address many problems associated with travel with a pet, for example, pet comfort. In addition, many such devices often become a somewhat permanent fixture in the vehicle in that SUV owners often find that these devices tend to be cumbersome to remove from the vehicle once installed. In addition, even with such a barrier installed, the cargo portion of an SUV is not designed to hold a moving dog. The ordinary motions of a moving vehicle can cause a dog, particularly a larger or older dog, located in the cargo space, to lose footing, fall and become injured.
Sharp movements experienced by a dog riding in a vehicle can result in more than mild discomfort to the dog. For example, canine hip dysplasia, a common, degenerative and painful condition which primarily affects larger or older dogs, can become aggravated and can cause severe pain to an animal subjected to a rough ride. When a dog has hip dysplasia, the head of the femur does not fit properly into the hip socket, and the joint becomes malformed and unstable. In advanced cases of the disease, the joint capsule and the ligament between the two bones become excessively stretched, adding further instability to the joint. Although moderate exercise that strengthens the gluteal muscles, such as running and swimming, is believed to be helpful for dogs with this condition, sharp, unnatural movements such as those experienced by a dog riding in a moving vehicle, can apply too much force to the joint, and are contraindicated.
More effective, safer, easier to use devices are needed for facilitating comfortable travel with animals, such as dogs and other pets, in passenger vehicles.